Russellville School Board members sent a proposal to the district's personnel policy committee Tuesday that would protect 45 teachers who currently participate in the Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan (T-DROP).

According to Nathan Barber, assistant to the superintendent and business manager, the district will be required to contribute 3 percent of the salaries of participating T-DROP employees to the state retirement fund. The new legislation, he said, will be effective July 1.

The district's current policy, according to board member and policy committee chair David Eddy, states that if such legislation was ever enacted, the percent of contributions the district is required to pay would be deducted from its contributions to employee retirement accounts.

Board member Jamie Sorrells said he believed the district's current policy relating to T-DROP needed to be amended so teachers who signed up for the program would not be penalized.

"I think about 45 employees would be affected by this, and in reviewing the list, most are very long-term, very dedicated employees," Sorrells said. "I realize this will cost the district somewhere in the neighborhood of $77,000, but this is not the first time the state has put down an edict that has cost the district money.

"It doesn't seem right to hold that against our employees."

According to Superintendent Danny Taylor, when the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System enacted its T-DROP program, the Russellville School Board voted to contribute 11 percent of each participating employee's salary to an local annuity account on the employee's behalf.

"A few years later, the state decided not to allow districts to do that, so the district changed the account from an annuity to a longevity increment to permit the continuation of its contributions to its employees," Taylor said.

"The district has paid that 11 percent of the employees' salaries every year since then."

Because the state is going to require a 3 percent contribution to the state retirement system from the district, Taylor said, the current policy would require the district to reduce the amount it contributes to longevity increments by 3 percent.

Sorrells made a motion to refer to the personnel policy committee an amendment to the policy that would allow employees who currently receive the longevity increment to continue to receive the amount they received in the 2005 fiscal year. Margie Smith seconded the motion.

"When they signed up for this program, [11 percent is] what they expected," Smith said. "By changing that now, we're altering the rules in the middle of the game."

Taylor said the portion of the policy stating the district would reduce its contribution to longevity increments if it was required to contribute to the state retirement system was not included in the policy when the 45 employees signed up for the longevity increments.

He said other policy changes were likely to come from the state level that would affect teachers in the T-DROP system.

"T-DROP people are not only potentially being hurt by this, [they are also affected because] the state changed the percent of interest on these accounts from 6 percent to 3 percent," Taylor said. "That's a 50 percent drop in the interest being paid on T-DROP accounts.

"It's been a continuing battle for these people participating."

The recommended amendment will be sent to the personnel policy committee for its approval, and the board will take action on the policy at an upcoming meeting.